Knitting machine



May 22, 192s. 1,670,388

' W. STAFFORD ET AL V KNITTING- MACHINE May 22, 1928. K 1,670,388

w. STAFFORD ET AL KNITTING MACHINE Filed Dec. 30, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 wvento/na @MM5-wwwa Stroznuz V Patented May 22, 1928.

UNITED STATES 1,670,388 PATENT oFFICE.)

WALTERSTAFFORD AND ROBERT c. Hom?. on LITTLEFALLS,` ivnw Yoan.

A:ixm'rrnve MACHINE.

` chilies. Y

The purpose of our invention is to provide a knittingmachine which is adapted to knit patterns or designs in the knitted fabric and e to have the knitting machine of such form,

` construction Aand arrangement of its parts that* a e great A.variety designs lor, patterns, may be knitted by appropriate adjustmentaiid arrangement ot the parts of the device e e which adjustments can be readily made ony the machine.

A further purpose is to provide in a knitting machine designer wheels having a plurality ot places or slots in some o? which are carried needle selectors with the def signer wheel adapted to be i'otated `bodily pastthe stationary needles and with the dial plate of said designer wheel in turn rotating on its own center so as to successively bring its several needle selectors into engagement, with the corresponding needles of the knit# ting machine iii'such manner that where a needle selector is present opposite a needle such needle is projected into feeding 'position while the needles op osite to whichno needle `selectorsare placeV arenot projected at said feed Vand'so` do not receive .any yarn at that leedbiit retain their old stitches.

A, further purpose istoprovide a knitting machine of the class described where the de` sign wheelsare of such construction and cooperation with the needles of the knitting iiiai'iiiiiie that more than two different colored yarns may `be used in design by the einployinei'it ofdesign 'Wheels of number corresponding to 'the colors of yarn desired to be used. Uur machine .isparticularly adapted to be used upon'emachines making ribbed fabric; that is machines where dial needles and cylinder needles are used yin such a machine oui'device may be used in direct cooperation .with the dial needles.v In the speciicatioi'i and drawings'lierein we have described and illustrated our `invention embodied in design wheels (zo-operating di rectly with the dial needles as this arrange# ment is perhaps somewhat simpler and is more convenient and desirable as a machine and makesia better fabric with lower grades ofyarn." j e `Fig. lis vertical sectional viewthrough part `of a knitting machineeinbodying our invention on line 1?-1 of FignQ..A

Fig. 2 isja topor plan view of partof said e machine. w

Application filed December 30, 1925. SeralNo. 78,347.

Figs. 3 and 4 are side and top views of the needle selector on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 51s a side view of a needle selector `and a needle in operative position. e n

li igs. 6 and T aretop views of said selectorV land needle in angular and straight engagement `representing initial and iiial angles at which `said parts operate. -1 w liig. 8 'isaside view of adial needle.`

Upon the stationary cylinder l0 arefprovided the `usual outwardly opening vertical slots .in which are mounted the cylinder needles ll for 'vertical rreciprocation in the usual way by cams lQ projecting inwardly from the revolving cam `carrier \Vithin the cylinder l() lis mounted the stationary horizontal dial 14 having the` usual upwardly openingV and radially arranged slots l5 in mounted thev dial needles 16 having theiusual butts li' extending abovethe upper Vface of the dial. The dial Mis supported by and which lare slidingly' attached to alarge narrowfgear wheel 18 Y having inwardly projecting teeth 19 and this wheel is iii turn att-ached to and'stationarily supported `by the `large stationary disk 2() conveniently formed withan integral hub 2l supported by the usual centralupright `Above the'dial lil there is provided aro ytating cap plate 'WhCl'l has il plurality of large spaced openings 24' therein inteI' mediate the hub portion 25 and ythe rim portion 26 leaving a similarl number of spider like spokes or arms 27 connecting the hub and theriin. rThis cap plate'carries the usual rdownwardly facing retractingd cams 28 and guardcamsQQ operating against butts 'L7 of the diall needle `16 in the usual way. In this cap plate, however-,there are located no projecting or riser cams toi-projecting the needles outwardly into operative position, but such projecting of the needles outwardly into operative position is acconiplished by needle selectors 30 mounted'in designer wheels generally 4denoted by the numeral 31.- l

Oneof these designer wheels 3l islocated in each of the large openings 24 of the rotating cap plate 23 and `is mounted to Arotate bodily with said cap plate `but tolbe separately rotated on its own axis while so roprovided a bridge piece rigidly fastened j LAl to the arms as by bolts 33. `Dependingly secured to this bridge piece 32 there is provided the stud shaft 3ft as by nuts 35 at the top of the bridge piece engaging `the upper end of said shaft above the bridge piece while the shoulder 36 formed by the enlarged diameter of the said shaft immediately below the bridge bears against said lower side of the bridge piece. An integral head or enlargement 37 on the lower end of the stud shaft 3a preferably with the aid of an intervening washer 38 supports the designer wheel31 on said stud shaft.

This designer wheel consists of a secondary or designer dial 39 and apinion l0 normally fastened together and traveling together but having means for accurate adjustment between said two parts as will be hereinafter mentioned. rl`his designer pinion 1U is of such size and theysaid designer wheel is so mounted that the teeth of said pinion on its side towards the cylinder mesh with the teeth 19 of the large gear wheel l5 which as already mentioned is stationarily mounted upon the disk 20. It will be seen, therefore, that rotation of the cap plate :23 carrying bodily therewith the several designer wheels 3l will cause said designer wheels to rotate on the stud shafts 3l through the pinion; lt) having engagement with the gear wheel 18.

In the secondary or designer dial 39 there are provided radially arranged upwardly facing slots extending in from the periphery of said dial and adapted to slidingly receive therein the needle selectors 3U with the butts 4:1 of said needle selectors projecting above the upper face of said dial 39.

Mounted directly above the outer or needle selector-carrying part of the secondary dial 39 there is mounted the designer cap plate 12. Said cap plate is fastened to the bridge piece 32 as by screws 43 extending down from said bridge piece into the said cap plate with said screws also passing through spacing rings ell interposed between said cap plate and said bridge piece. of this cap plate 42 there is provided for most of the circumference of said cap plate a downwardly opening annular groove 1l-5 in which travel the opstanding butts 41 of the needle selectors 30.

Said groove 45 may be made directly in the designer cap plate 42 but preferably is made in a separate cam plate 47 attached to said cap plate and so mechanically forming a part thereof. On the portion of the cap plate towards the needle dial there are provided in the cam plate 47 a projecting cam 48 for projecting the needle selectors farther out upon the designer dial and a retracting cam 49 for withdrawing said selectors back to the annular groove 45.

It will be understood that the slots in the designer dials 39 are spaced apart the same dist-ance as tje slots 15 in the main horizontal In the bottom i dial 14 so that the needle selectors 30 in the slots beneath the projecting cam 4S and for a short distance before that is reached by the adjacent slots of the selector dial are snlliciently in alignment with the oppositely placed needles in the main dial 14 then a preaching a given feeding position of the knitting machine to make the outer ends of the needle selectors engage the opstanding butts 17 on the dial needles and push said needles ont to operative position as the respective needle selectors are projected farther outward on the designer t ial incident to the upstanding butts upon the selectors having to follow the path of said projecting cani 48 of the selector cap. The needles so projected to feeding positionat any feed receive the thread provided for that feed and the needles are thereafter retracted by the retractor cam Q8 upon the main cap plate 23 of the machine while the needle selectors have been promptly and previously retracted by the retracting cam 49 on the designer cap plate.

It will be understood that these designer wheels must be arranged in Sets2 usually two or three and perhaps four designer wheels heinl used to effect the knitting of the dcsirednpattern. If yarns of only two different colors are being used only two designer wheels need to be used. In such a twowheel set selectors will be placed in certain of the slots of the first designer wheel and omitted from the other slots and this will cause the corresponding needles at this first feed to be projected into feeding position and knit a stitch on cach of the needles so projected. The next designer wheel will have needle selectors put into its slots which correspond to the slots in the first designer wheel where no needle selectors were placed so that at this second feed the second designer wheel will project into feeding position only such needles as were not projected into feeding position at the first feed. there itis desired to have a design using three colors or shades of color three designer wheels will be used at three successive feeds and the needle selectors will he placed in the respective designer wheels so as to brinf,f all ot the dial needles into operation once only during said set of three feeds. The design stitches will obviously he longer than the stitches knitted by the cylinder needles. For instance, when two designer wheels are used for knitting a design the design stitches knitted b the dial needles will be twice as long as t e regular backincr stitches knitted by the cylinder needles since the cylinder needles knit at each feed and the dial needles knit once at each two feeds. Obviously when three designer wheels are used the design stitches will be three times as long as the stitches knitted by the cylinder needles. And as the stitches cannot be kept lll llo

reageer f sary than an of the am -neediesbebmughe into operation at eachcomplete'set of de? signer wheels. will be `understood that' at any feedwhere there is no needle selector opposite a given vdial needle that needlefwill simply retain its previous stitch:

As `many sets of designer wheels may be used on a knitting machine as there room toreceive. On an ordinary vfour `feed nia-1 chine there may/be'two sets of two designer wheels eachor only one lfmir-wheel set; On a six `feed machine there may be two sets ofth'ree Wheel sets.

Each designer dial therebelow `are normally rigidly 'fastened 'to-l setsor `three sets of two wheel `349 and its pinionV 40;

getherias by headed screws 50 havingtheir heads above the designer dial 39 andhaving their shanks project` downwardly through elongatedslots l in the designer dial with' the lower end of said scren'isthreznled `into the pinion 40. This arrangement allows a:

slight rotative adjustment to `be made be-V tween the designer dial and its pinion by first loosening said screws'Oya'nd then adjnsting the horizontally arranged screw! threaded rod 52 mounted upen the top ol' the designerfdial.` This screw-threaded rod is "rtatively mounted intermediate itsfends inthe top of a stud 53 upstanding trom the pinion through a suitable slot inthe' designer dial, said rodbeing held from longitudinal play in said studies `is usual in devices ot this character. The opposite." ends ot saiiil rod are screw-threaded linto the upper 'ends cfa pair Aof short ears 51tr/and 55 npstanding `from the designer dial. `When 'the desired adjustment or chiining of the parts has been accomplished the 5l) will Abagain tightened to hold the e ,d d and its pinion rigidly together. H i What we'claim as new and desire to secnreby 'Letters Patent is:

In a circular independent-needle knitting machine the combination" ol 4a statioii signer wheel having a dial within thecirele of the` needle dial andprovidedwith radwjil slots spaced similarly to theneedles, .one edge of the designer dialbe'ing Yadjacent the needle diaha pinion engaging the teeth o'fsaid gear wheelr and adapted to Vrotate said designer dial and removableneedle i selectors slidingly mounted in certainfof the slots of said de signer dial and at thefouter part of the de slgner dial substantially aligned with the dial needles and adapted to engage the butts lofcertain of the needles and move said needles to operative position anda cap plate for each designer wheel mounted on said .main rotating caminember and located op positesaid needle selectors and hav-ing cams for kprojecting the needleselectors `into en- Y gagement with the needles andto Withdraw the selectors therefrom.

2. In a Acircular independent-needle l nit ting machine the combination ot a needle dial,needlesradially carried thereby .with

buttsprojecting from said dial7 aplnralityv of ieeds*therefor,` a mam rotatingmember having cams to withdraw said needles from ,operative positiomfineans to el'lect relative rotative movement between said dial and said main cam member, a plurality ol complementary designer Wheelsbodily carried by said'main rotating cam member each designer Wheelhaving a dial Within the/circle" butts of certain of the needles-and more said needles to operative position and a cap `plate :for eachdesigner "wheel mounted on said main cam member andlocated opposite said needle selectors and having cams V,for projecting the needle selectors into engagement with the needlesjandj to withdraw the selec-` tors therelfronrand means to rotate said designer wheel dials in unison With thejrotating member of said member pair. i i

In a circular independent-needle knitting machine, the combination of two co 1 operating needle carriers7 one a cylinder and fonea dial, a set ot needles 1n each'needle carrier, a plurality of feeds therefor, means formovingthe cylinder needles to and from operative position at each feed, means for i'etracting the dial needles lfrom operative position and a plurality off complementary designer wheels, each having a dial within the circle of the` needle dial and with one e gre adjacent the needle circle of the dial set of needles and having radialslots therein spaced to correspond "with the needles of the second set, removable selectively placed needle yselectors slidingly andv radially lmounted in certain ot' the slots ot! said `designer dial and adapted when projected at any feedfto move the oppositely disposed needles ofthe `dial needles into operative position by outward radial movement in a llne approximating the radial travel Vofthe needles and meanstor projectingthe needle selectors in each designerivlieel into engagement with their needles at teedingposition and .means to rotate said designerrwheels in unison with the main means lor moving said needles. i.

needle dial and main camA 4. In a circular independent-needle knitting machine, the combination of a stationary dial, needles slidingly and radially mounted therein and provided with projectj ing butts, a plurality of feeds therefor, a

- the edge ot the needle dial and a pinion below the designer dial and engaging the teeth of said gear Wheel and adapted to rotate said designer dial and needle selectors slidingly and radially mounted in the slots of the designer dial and adapted by outward radial movement in a line approximating the radial travel ot the needles to engage the butts of certain of theneedles and move said needles to operative position and a cap plate for cach designer wheel mounted on said main rotating cap plate and located opposite said needle selectors and having cams for projecting the needle selectors into engage.- ment with the needles and to Withdraw the selectors therefrom. y

5. In a circular independent-needle knitting machine, the Acombination of al plurality of feeds, a stationary needle cylinder, needles slidingly mounted therein, means for moving` said needles to and lfrom operative position, a stationary needle dial, needles slidingly and radially mounted therein and provided `With projecting butts` a main rotating cap having cams to` withdraw said dial needles from operative position, a plurality of complementary designer wheelsy bodily carried within the circle of the needle dial by Said main rotating cap plate, each designer wheel having a dial with radially arranged slots spaced corresponding to the dial needles and with one edge adjacent the edge of the needle dial and removable needle selectors` slidingly and radially mounted in the designer dial and adapted by outward radial movement in a line approximating the radial travel oi` the needles to engage the butts of certain of the needles and move said needles to operative position. a cap plate for each designer wheel mounted on said main rotating cap plate and lo- -ated opposite said needle selectors and having cams tor projecting the needle selectors into engagement with the dial needles and to withdraw the selectors therefrom and means to rotate said designer wheel dials in unison with said main rotating cap plate.

6. In a circular independent-needle machine the combination of a plurality of feeds,

projecting butts, a main rotating cap hav-` ing Cams t0 Withdraw said dial. needles from operative position, a stationary gear wheel in a plane parallel with the needle dial.` a plurality of complementary designer `wheels bodily carried within the circle ol the needle dial by said main rotating cap plate. each designer wheel having ra dial with radially arranged slots spaced corresponding to the needles and with one edge adjacent the educ of the needle dial and a pinion engaging t ie teeth of said gear wheel and adapted to rotate said designer dial and needle selectors slidingly and radially mounted in the designer dial and adapted by outward ra dial movement in a line approximating the radial travel of the needles to en gagev the butts of certain of the needles and move said needles to operative position and a cap plate for each designer wheel mounted on said main rotating cap plate and located opposite said needle selectors and having cams for projecting the needle selectors into engagement withP the dial needles and to withdraw the selectors therefrom. j j

7. In a circular indepcndent-needle knitting machine the combination of a needle dial, needles radially carried thereby with butts projecting from said dial, a plurality ot feeds therefor, a main cam member having cams to withdraw said needles from operative position, means to effect relative rotatlvemovement between said dial and said main cam member, a plurality ol' complementary designer wheels mounted on said main cam member, each designer wheel having a dial within the circle of the needle dial, with one edge adjacent the needle dial and rcmovable needle selectors slidingly and radially mounted in said designer dial and adapted by outward radial movement in a line` approximating the radial travel of the needles to engagey the butts of certain of the needles and move said needles to operative position and a cap plate for each dcsigner wheel mounted on said main cam member and located opposite said needle selectors and having cams for projecting the needle selectors into engagement with the needles and Withdraw the selectors therefrom and means to rotate said designer wheel dials in unison with the rotating member of said needle dial and main cam member pair.

In Witness whereof we have allixcd our signatures, this 30th day of November 1925.

lVAL'lER STAFFORD. ROBERT C. HOLT. 

